Warfall: Age of Extinction
by Lovus Eternius
Summary: The Story about a SAO Survivor who becomes a Lone VR Game Dev and the continued development of Warfall: Age of Extinction as well as big changes that happen in Overlord's (Gabriel Sakuragi's) life over the course of his High School Life.
1. Chapter 1

Matsubara Highschool

Kawagoe, Saitama prefecture.

2:55PM

**_Gabriel Sakuragi_**

The clock was over the chalkboard in front of the class and the teacher was droning on endlessly about the hideously difficult language known as English. The class itself was only hard since Kawakami-sensei was an old man with an arched back, thick glasses and a weak voice that didn't sound passionate or like he even used English himself that often, it drove me insane and I had to tune it out by focusing my attention on the silent click of the eternally moving hands of the clock. My father and mother had raised me to be bilingual, and my father spoke only English to me while my mother spoke only Nihongo (Japanese). So this class was actually unnecessary but free, so… I'll take it.

As I stared at the clock, (ignoring everything the old man was saying) I lost myself in thought. It was strange, just two years ago I had been trapped in Sword Art Online and now I was in High School like a normal kid after about half a year of rehabilitation. Boring, but I did appreciate the normality after the hell I'd gone through. For two long years I was in the infamous game of death. Only the players knew what happened in those two years, but the authorities and recovery groups also had access to the activity logs and were still sorting through the two years worth of data. I received special attention in terms of my education, two years behind in terms of academic maturity. I caught up quickly enough, the supplementary lessons a hell of their own. The person in charge of my rehabilitation was Erina Mikado. A black-haired beauty with cold grey eyes but a warm heart. She was patient, but very easily entertained by my suffering. She was a specialist who was my psychiatrist, and therapist. It was only because of her I could function in the real world.

Then again, only I could be so understanding of human nature and adapt to change. Most people didn't even recognize the tragedy of around four thousand people dying in a video game. "Serves em right!" Or "It has nothing to do with me!" were the two most common thought processes about it today but the SAO incident was also a heavily censored event that lost popularity over time. Eventually hearing about people dying in SAO through gossip stopped happening (news about it was not allowed on air). With how many millions of people lived in Japan. A mere four thousand was inconsequential. Plus the whole thing was already resolved so it just didn't matter anymore. Life just went on and the amusphere was even released during the events of SAO. That's honestly quite something.

…!

I raised my arm over my head to deflect something in my peripheral vision and felt the full impact of the edge of a textbook which stopped at my arm, it hurt. "Yo, what?" It hurt a shit ton, but it interrupted my thoughts and brought me back to reality.

"S-sakuragi-kun… can you read out the next sentence?"

I stood up at my desk and started speaking in English the moment the sensei asked me to do something. "_Ah, sure. Page 139 right? … It was with a heavy sigh I cleared my desk and went home, lamenting the events today … good enough, right?"_

"Yes, well done as always … Thank you Sakuragi-kun."

"No problem." I sat down and shot the person in the desk to my right a harmless smile, the one who decided to attack me with their book.

It was a girl with a piercing gaze. She'd been sitting next to me since day one of our seating arrangement. Reina Yotsubaki. Her hair was messy, looked like it was just lopped short to jaw-length, and it dyed red like a river of crimson blood. Her face was the definition of perfection that all girls strived for, but I'm pretty sure she didn't wear makeup or know how to apply it because of her nature. Maybe she was just really good at it though. I doubted it because of how volatile she was in conveying her feelings. Like a rabid dog.

She wasn't evil. Or mean. Just blunt. Very blunt. She was actually a very compassionate human being who cared for others deeply, while maintaining her distance and taking a direct approach to bullies and the ignorant… she was basically tsundere. She had the muscle to back up her behavior. I'm not sure, but I think she used to be in acrobatics and is now in the track club. Her lightly tanned skin spoke volumes of the amount of time she spent in the sun.

"What?" She asked.

Oopsie. Caught staring. "Nothing."

With that the class dragged on for a few more minutes before we were dismissed and the classes ended for the day. Something unusual happened while I was putting my stuff back into my bag.

"-Your arm."

"Hm?" I looked up at the girl standing in front of me.

"Sorry… about your arm."

"Don't worry about it, worse things have happened to me." I said with a dismissive wave and a smile. Somebody like me didn't have the right to make others feel apologetic for causing such trivial pain. Her expression changed ever so slightly, as I finished my sentence, and she nodded slightly.

I shifted my gaze away from her, waiting for her to say something, but she stood at the other end of my desk fidgeting with her hands. Unable to bear the awkwardness any longer, I slung my bag over my shoulder and stood up.

Her face was red now, maybe she came to confess her love to me? Just kidding.

_**BANG!**_

I blinked, and she violently slammed her fist into the face of my desk. "Urk!" She pulled it behind her back and hid her hand before making eye contact with me again.

I must've looked pretty surprised, or whatever looked like surprised for me… because her eyes widened and her face went an even deeper red. "Uhm… u-uhm… I'm sorry!"

She charged out of the classroom and ran down the hallway. Leaving me standing there, completely bewildered as to what the actual hell just happened. I decided to leave it at that, and headed towards my clubroom. To do… club activities.

* * *

_**Reina Yotsubaki**_

I thought I'd mustered up the courage to talk to him. But when I tried to tell him the teacher was calling him, my breath caught in my throat and the words didn't come out at all so the only thing I could do was try to get his attention with my textbook, but the nervousness got to me and I ended up hitting his arm and I could tell it hurt, because he winced and I'm pretty sure I used all my strength!

_STUPID! IDIOT! STUPID!_

Then he looked at me after he finished reading a single sentence in such a beautiful, silky-smooth voice that calmed my nerves. His blonde hair and bright blue eyes were like looking into heaven. Most of the other students avoided him because they thought he dyed his hair, but he was so kind and reserved, and dignified and had such a gentle voice that put me at ease, I couldn't resist getting close to him.

He's staring at me… I look at him and immediately regret opening my stupid mouth to try and talk!

"What?"

_Oh god, I sounded so condescending! Stop talking! Don't even look at him! Apologize after class!_

"Nothing." He replies, with a look of something reminiscent of disdain in his eyes. His eyes were so full of emotion, despite his facial expression never changing beyond those forced smiles of his that were actually kind of creepy, because he only ever smiled whenever he was upset. It was actually kind of sad.

I couldn't focus on class at all after that exchange, but when it ended I went up to him and managed to apologize for hitting his arm. But immediately after that, I tried to force myself to ask him if he wanted to hang out after school, but my brain couldn't find the words and my frustration built up and I just hit his desk! Stupid! Ahhh! I hate talking to people.

The words he said when he kind of accepted my apology were so sad too…

"Don't worry about it, worse things have happened to me." His eyes when he said that were dark, but filled with a gentle somberness.

Now I was on the roof of the school, track club was so boring, and I didn't even want to bother with it anymore. So I just laid there on my back, on the hot and hard concrete while the sun just bore down on me ... without mercy.

"Haaa… so hot." I sighed, and then sat up. Before deciding to buy a drink. Back into school I went, down the stairs and down the hall to where the vending machines were on the second floor. School was out, but there were still a lot of students participating in club.

"Yo! Baki-chan!"

My nickname, it was basically written with the characters for blade and fang. I looked over as I pressed the button on the vending machine. "Huh… just Yamato-chan." I called her that, because she had big guns … on her chest. She was also archaic like a WW2 ship … and long … actually ... tall like a battleship. She basically followed regulations to the letter and wore rimless glasses and had a very old-school sense of taste. Her real name: Erina Mikado.

I looked away from her as I got my drink out of my vending machine.

"Ara… that's a selection I've never seen from you before?"

"What?" I looked at the drink.

_Black Coffee_

"W-w-what!? I thought… it was Strawberry-Lemon! Why! Why! WHYYY!" I threw my arms in the air and fell to my knees as the strength to continue living in this wretched world left my body.

"Ahahaha…" She looked nervous at the mere disgusting sight of me finally succumbing to the will of the universe.

_The Horror!_

I shuddered with disgust at the thought of drinking this coffee.

"Hey… you know, come to think of it. I know somebody who really likes their coffee like this… cold and disgusting." She said with a smile.

I failed to listen, eyes focused on the black can of cold coffee.

"Eru-chan!" She said with a grin, finally finishing her sentence.

"Eru-chan?" I tilted my head. I'd never heard that name before.

"Oh… you know how his name is Gabriel in English but written as Gaburieru? Sakura-chan is a little too long to say… so I just call him Eru-chan."

She explained that like there was nothing wrong with calling Sakuragi-kun by a girly name. Not that I had anything against how cute Eru-chan actually was of a nickname for him.

"What are you saying…?"

"Sakuragi-kun likes iced black coffee?" She tilted her head and pointed at the can in my hand.

"So…?"

"Give him that can if you don't want it, so your money doesn't go to waste and you can get some love points in return." She winked.

Heat. My face felt hot. "Wha-wha-what the hell are you saying?!"

"Speaking of Eru-chan, have you seen him around?"

Just as she said that, he rounded the corner behind her and immediately rose a finger to his lips before he started backing up.

…?

"I figured he'd come to get some coffee for his work in the VR Club but I didn't see him in the hallways?"

"Bathroom probably… but no I haven't seen him. VR Club, what is that?"

"Virtual Reality club."

Ah. Virtual Reality was kind of scary. Especially with what I heard about Sword Art Online.

After she said that she seemed to analyze me, and was wearing a knowing smile on her face. "It's in room 2-6 in the club building."

Second floor room six of the clubroom building, which was attached to the main building where the regular classes took place. The two buildings were connected by a … skybridge on the second floor. But there were only vending machines in the main building on each floor.

"I guess I'll stop by and give this to him." I said, while trying to force back a smile that relentlessly tugged at my mouth.

"Guess I'll try again tomorrow… let me know how it goes." She said with a wide smile as she started walking down the corridor and past me. Then she was gone. Moments later Sakuragi-kun rounded the corner again and nodded slightly at me.

"What was that about?"

"...hm?"

"The thing in the classroom."

More face hot … heatness.

"I … just wanted to say sorry for hitting you so hard … and hitting your desk. So I will give you this as an apology."

He looked at the can and the at the vending machine. His eyes lit up, and he started smiling, for real this time. "Ahhh… you must've missed the button, the Strawberry-lemon is right next to the black coffee. If you don't want that I'll trade you." He put his money into the machine and pressed the strawberry-lemon button and it fell to the dispenser. Then he waved it at me.

My face was so hot now and my heart was beating so hard it sounded like it was in my ears. Dizzy!

"How… do you know this is my…"

_Ahh… I feel weak… how does he know that's my favourite? My mind feels all mushy._

* * *

_**Gabriel Sakuragi**_

It was no secret that this girl stumbling over her words was a fan of the strawberry-lemon juice. She drank at least three or four boxes of it each day. You'd have to be dense with or blind not to notice. What I don't understand is why she's acting so strangely today.

"Aren't you supposed to be at track practice right now?"

"Urk…!"

She seemed to snap out of her daze. That was good at least. "I don't even like track…" She murmured, and held out the can of coffee.

"Thank you." He stated and traded the coffee with the juice. "So… why don't you like track? You're good at it."

"Everyone asks me that question… but I don't know the answer." She said, looking kind of upset. Not at me, maybe the question.

"Well… if you've got some reservation about track, then why not just join a different club?"

"You got any recommendations?" This was the most she'd ever spoken to me in one sitting, her face was bright red, indicating this was embarrassing for her. But she didn't seem to dislike talking to me.

I let out a sigh of relief before working up the courage to make a recommendation. Erina had talked to me earlier this week about getting a new club member by Friday, so that the VR Club had some merit in not being disbanded for uselessness. The VR Club was where I spent most of my time developing a game. So it was an important part of my schedule… so… so… having to put up with a new club member far outweighed the possibility of it being shut down.

"Well… the VR club is always recruiting new members."

…!

Her face lit up with a wide, genuine smile and her face up to her ears were a deep shade of crimson, almost as red as her hair. "I … I … might just ... take you up on that offer." She said with a very expressive voice, that basically said she meant that.

Such a cute smile, for somebody so destructive seemed out of place for her, but I still wanted to pat her head. Fortunately I was smarter than that.

"Great." I reached into my pocket for a folded piece of paper, and handed it to her. "Club application. You got time right now? I can show you what the club activities are all about."

She hesitated. Fidgeting with the paper for a moment before putting it in her sweater pocket and poking her straw through her drink. She nodded.

So we made our way to my humble abode, a part of me wanted her to refuse, and to tell Erina I had failed. But my desire for a place to belong at school outweighed my desire for desolate isolation.

"Here we are…" I slid the door open and we stepped inside.

The girl behind me held the box of juice with both hands for comfort and was sipping out of the straw very tenderly.

_Cough. Cough! Cough!_

She kind of inhaled a bit of her juice and failed to swallow correctly, I'd have to spend time re-educating her on how to … let's just end that line of thought there.

"You ok?"

"Mmn… mmhmm… yeah! Why?"

"Just… checking."

She had a look of despair to her, I guess girls weren't supposed to lose composure and have coughing fits or something?

"I was just surprised… by all this." She gestured with both hands at the couches, and beds as well as all the headsets sitting around.

"Ah, yeah. The VR club was pretty popular up until last year when the last club members graduated. It's strange that no new members were found until I showed up this year."

The girl, who couldn't contain herself or her fascination went poking around the clubroom as she pleased. That was fine, as long as she didn't start coughing on everything.

"A-ah… what's this?"

"The AmuSphere?" She was holding up a silver ring with a visor to cover the eyes. The AmuSphere used microwaves to affect brain waves and it streamed data wirelessly from the internet hubs directly to your mind or something like that. The internet was highly stable and had multiple backup power sources in the event of a citywide shutdown. The AmuSphere itself was a step down from the NerveGear which used stronger microwaves that were capable of frying the brain and had an internal power source so it could operate wirelessly for a time, long enough to prevent the circumvention of near instantaneous brain-frying that Kayaba Akihiko went for.

"It's a VR headset, not as dangerous as the NerveGear but its not really a Fulldive since you are still aware of your surroundings to some extent. You have to be awake mentally to use it and it automatically disconnects if your avatar starts to fall asleep in game. It also disconnects if your heart rate becomes abnormal and you start to feel a high level of stress. It's safe."

"Fulldive… NerveGear…?" She tilted her head as she nodded and listened, but there was a couple things she didn't get.

"Ah… the NerveGear was what the people who got stuck in SAO wore to dive into the game. It's capable of taking human lives which is primarily how the players lost their lives and how Kayaba Akihiko trapped 10,000 players in the game… I'm honestly surprised there's not more stigma against VR games… but also kind of… happy." I explained to her and she listened, almost too eagerly.

"You know more about it then I've heard from the news…"

"Ahahaha! Well. I followed the whole thing very closely." I lied. I was actually a survivor of the whole thing, so of course I knew about it, but she didn't need to know anymore than that.

There was a glimmer of fear in her eyes.

"Ah… don't worry. The AmuSphere isn't like that. It uses less power and isn't capable of harming you, in fact it prioritizes human safety over player experience… tch."

"How does it work."

"Hmm…? Oh you just pull it over your head, lay down and say: Link Start." I explained. "When you're in the virtual space you can select from a list which game you want to play. There's a big list, but the top games are ALO and GGO. A couple other games are Asuka Empire which is a pay to win clusterfuck, and LUNASCAPE which I've never actually played before."

"Isn't there that one new game which made the news recently?"

"Hmmm…" I entered deep thought as she asked that question nonchalantly. In truth, that was the game I was developing, alone. But I'd hit something of a roadblock recently. On the world nexus there's a world that you can take assets from. Like GGO's weapon assets, 3D models with sound, and consumable ammunition.

I took in a deep breath. "That's actually the game I've been developing for the last two years. It's still kind of rough around the edges but it's playable so I left the server up, the cost to keep it running isn't too bad but I can only have around a hundred thousand players online on the world at a time."

"A hundred thousand players!?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah. It's pretty popular but it's kind of hard to log on. I don't want to add cosmetics microtransactions before I've finished at least 75% of development but the demand for my unfinished game has become so high that I have no idea what to do. It's free to play too… so I'm actually just broke."

"Isn't that kind of a big deal…?! Can I play…?! Please."

"Hmm… huhuahahahahaha! You can play as much as you'd like if you join the VR Club." I couldn't contain my laughter, but realized how diabolical I sounded, so reined it in. But when I brought my arms back in from being outstretched to the sides and turned my head down from the ceiling as I threw my head back to laugh evilly… she was gone.

…?

Fortunately she was just over by one of the desks, scribbling something furiously on a paper. "Hoh?" She's filling the club application out, and not running away? She's actually filling it out?

"Ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora!"

What… "Was that a reference to something?"

She slapped the paper against my chest and I looked down at it. Such girly handwriting. There was even a cute heart over the i in Reina.

Pff-

I stopped myself at the last second. But she noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing… I just… this is kind of fun." I said to her with a smile.

Her face turned crimson red and she staggered, before falling onto one of the couches with an AmuSphere in her hands.

"Well. If you want you can set up your account in that AmuSphere. It'll automatically detect that you're a new user once you say the magic words… the game I'm developing is called: _Warfall: Age of Extinction_."

She nodded as she laid down on her back with the AmuSphere over her eyes. Any reservations she seemed to have over VR previously seemed to be gone. "While you're doing that. I'll take this to the faculty office. I have to speak with Mikado-sensei anyway… I'll also drop by to the track club to tell them why you're away, and rub it in their faces as much as possible."

"W-w-wait!"

"Just kidding."

"Ah… ehehah...aha…"

Not.

"Link Start!"

With that I was off to the faculty office, locking the door to the clubroom behind me, so that nobody would sneak in and do anything to my new slave… I mean club member. I actually ran into somebody on the way there, how convenient. It was the Track team's manager. One of many.

Kaede Kirishima. Black-haired girl with a long ponytail that went all the way down to her mid-back. Her deep brown eyes looked distressed. "Don't look so good." I said to her. After I said that she looked completely dejected.

"Have you seen Yotsubaki-san?"

Formal way of addressing her. "Ah… Baki—"

"Don't call her that!" She had tears in her eyes now.

What… should I do?

"She might be scary… and rude… and dyes her hair… but she's human too! So stop treating her like she's some kind of monster…!?" She looked about as taken aback as I was.

"...Who is treating her like that?"

She wiped her eyes, and the tears flowed freely. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry…! I didn't mean to yell at you, but all the girls in the track club always talk about her behind her back and say mean things all day and she just accepts what they're saying like… _ah, that's just the way it is… _you know?"

I didn't know. "I actually really like her nickname… and I think she does too." I extended my hand and patted her on the head.

"Yoshi yoshi~"

"...!" Her face went a deep shade of red and she swatted my hand away.

As expected. "Anyway. Baki-chan is joining the VR club. I'm heading to the faculty office to hand in her club application."

Her eyes widened. Like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What do you mean? She's quitting the track club…? But then how will I get to talk… what about how good she is at track?" She was about to say something else.

"She says she doesn't like track. And just took it because joining a club is mandatory at this school." I shrugged.

"Then… who is the president of the VR club?"

Did she really just ask the guy taking the application to the faculty office who the club president is? Does she think I'm some kind of errand boy?

I just pointed my thumb at my chest. "That'd be yours truly."

"_Geh…!"_

"Wow." A geh of disgust, so brazenly.

"As I thought… I can't leave somebody like you in care of Yostubaki-san."

"Sorry. But club member applications are closed. So I respectfully decline your request for an application." I stated bluntly as I held up a hand for her to stop. I was just a little annoyed at her for that change in her attitude. So I decided to leave it at that and kept walking.

"Ah…! Wait!"

I did not wait. Then I finally got to the faculty office after that little detour. With a slam of the sliding door I opened it to find only Mikado-sensei at the desk. She turned to me with an all-knowing smile. "What brings you here today, Eru-chan?"

"Eru-chan?! Pfft!" The girl who followed me all the way here peeked over my shoulder and I sighed as I walked in to hand Mikado the club application.

"This is fine, right? I don't need anymore members right?"

"Ara… ara ara. Didn't know she had it in her… mm… yeah. This application looks fine, but I told you, you needed four members right?"

"Wha- what the hell?!"

"Ah… but you got one member this week. So maybe I can give you another week extension before shutdown day! Ehehehe…"

"Four members! This is too much. How am I supposed to find two more members?"

"I mean… I offered to join, but since you so fervently declined my application because you're not accepting new members. I guess I just have to accept it…"

"What do you want?" I asked Kaede with a sigh.

"Fufufu!" Her face looked like a true force of evil as she pretended to think.

"Nevermind, I'll find somebody else."

"Ah! Wait! Wait! Just kidding I'll join for free! Just let me see Yotsubaki-san!"

"Ah… is that so?" I removed a second club application from my pocket and handed it to her.

She hastily filled it out, then handed it to Mikado-sensei herself and we were out the door again. Back to the clubroom.

I unlocked and slid the door open to find Reina still laying there on her back. Well that's good. At least she didn't have a bad experience with VR. If she got scared of not being able to log out she'd be automatically logged out, but it seemed like she was enjoying herself, laying there peacefully. So I walked over to the desk and turned on the TV mounted to the wall on one side of the clubroom. When I selected the input options it showed a list of active AmuSpheres. So I selected the new one with a new username: Baki.

When I did. Her FOV showed up and we were seeing what she was seeing. She was actually playing my game. I could tell because of the palette of the world, and the HUD. She was in the Corrupted Lowlands. It was an old valley with a single ruined city filled with the repurposed biomass of the dead. She seemed to have made a few encounters, because she was already level three, took a bit of damage and had new things in her inventory. The reason she was able to get on most likely had something to do with the fact that there are a few reserved slots for the AmuSpheres in this room.

"She seems to be doing well." I said bluntly.

"Is this that new game?" Kaede asked me, almost hesitantly. "How was she able to get on so quickly? I usually spend my whole evening trying to get on."

"Oh? You like Warfall?"

"Yes. So much! I love this game! I don't get to play a lot because of the server limit of a hundred thousand, but I kind of get it… its free to play and the dev is paying for it out of his pocket… he should just make a donation button cosmetic like a golden Deagle Skin exclusive to early supporters while its in development. Everyone loves that gun. Even though its the starter weapon it's really reliable, even if the bullets are kind of expensive."

"Hmm and you wouldn't mind if the dev made cosmetics before the game was ready for release?"

"Well yeah, how long can it take to give everyone a simple weapon skin that changes just the chromatics on a gun and the tint to gold? It's not like it will cut into development time."

"Well. In theory I guess I could do that in a few hours."

"Haha…" She sighed. And had a longing look in her eyes as she watched Reina play. I went over to the computer and pulled an AmuSphere over my head. This one functioned as a regular VR headset. There were way too many players for my game. So I'd make a cosmetic I guess, and depending on how much I made off it I'd upgrade the super server.

I'd already included the cosmetic system, using code off the world nexus to include into the User Interface/UI. It was in the user menu tabs.

It took a few hours, Kaede just watched Reina while I added a new weapon skin for the Deagle. Gold. Shiny. With a slight glow. I'd have to take the server down to make this couple MB patch to the game, it wouldn't break anything but it'd kick every single player offline. I checked the time. It was 6:43PM. What the hell!? This took way too long. I could've spent more time working on the Procedural Animation for the mobs to make them less janky and more fluid.

Server message. "Attention all players: at 7PM the server will be taken offline for a small content update." I read it outloud and then sent it.

"Ah…" I could hear Reina as she almost instantly saw the message as it came up.

_Patch 2.3 notes_

_Unlocked in-game store._

_Added new weapon skin._

_At popular request, a new weapon skin has been added for the Deagle. If this weapon skin sells well, it will be used to fund further development, increase quality of life for the developer and upgrade the capacity of the server._

_Overlord out._

I posted that up on the official site for Warfall: Age of Extinction. While I was there I checked the forums, and saw the walls of topics of server complaints. Nothing about the actual content of the game. Interesting.

I clicked refresh. The first topic:

* * *

_**UOOOOOOOOOH**_!

* * *

I sipped the can of now warm iced black coffee, then closed the official site, moved to the admin portal of Warfall. Then I shut down the server and updated the previous client of Warfall then rebooted the server and finally removed the AmuSphere from my head with a deep sigh. Setting it down on the desk and shutting down the PC in the process. I decided not to read that new topic or lock it… probably for the best. I turned around and saw that Reina had logged out and Kaede was staring at me with her mouth agape.

"Is that a coincidence… or are you actually… Overlord?" Kaede managed to ask after struggling to find the words for a minute or two.

"Hmm? Oh my Dev name. Yeah, that's me. I made Warfall: Age of Extinction." I shrugged.

"Why didn't you tell anyone in class?!"

"Nobody asked?" I shrugged.

She went silent, and then Reina spoke up.

"Wow… that was actually super fun. I only managed to get to level ten today, but I'd like to play more… can I take this home?" She was holding the AmuSphere in her hand.

"Ah… no. That belongs to the school. So we're not allowed to take them home." I said apologetically. "I own a few at my place for multiple things though, so maybe I can lend you one."

Almost like she remembered something, she smiled. "Ah… that's ok. I just remembered something… I dont think I should take something so expensive home with me."

"What about you?"

"Y-y-you're actually the dev of Warfall though!? Oh my god… hey… how do I get to play more?"

"Oh… like Reina? You basically just give an AmuSphere login priority by reserving one slot for it. If you want I can add yours to the priority list so you can play at home. But don't skip out on club activities… I need a few guinea pi— labrat— test subjects for new content I'm working on… and don't tell anyone from school. Or you're banned."

Kaede covered her mouth with both hands. Like she was planning to do exactly that. "That's an abuse of power."

"Power exists to be abused. Overlord out." I said with a slight smile and made my way out of the clubroom and waited at the door. "Closing time is at 7:30PM. We're done for the day."

"Aww…" Moaned Kaede.

"Tch." Reina clicked her tongue.

They both left the room and I locked the door and started to take the key back to the faculty office. I returned it and Mikado was still in there, hunched over her Computer Screen and reading an email, I didn't check who from. Or see what it said, but I'd find out almost immediately anyway.

"Mikado-sensei…?"

She jumped as she turned to face me, her expression was dark and her eyes filled with some semblance of horror. Why was she so afraid, did they not tell her who I was?

"Eru-chan… is it true?" She got up from her PC and walked up to me. Her eyes were watery now. She stood an arms length away from me. "That you… killed all those people?"

"...Ah… so you found out? Haha…"

We stood there in uneasy silence.

* * *

**_A/N: Not much to say about this chapter. I wrote what came to mind, and this is the product of my ... uhh ... freestyle writing._**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"I'm disgusting aren't I? Somebody who can do something like that without remorse… even if they were all playerkillers… ahahaha." I laughed, bitterly. My vision blurred and I wiped my eyes. Moisture.

She extended her arms and came closer to me.

"Don't." I stated bluntly, she was going to try to comfort me like everyone else. I'd done what I needed to do, and returned the key. Time to go. "Somebody like me doesn't need comfort, save it for the victims who've lost something or somebody important to them." I stated bluntly and she immediately jerked her arms back as I backed up a few steps towards the door.

"Sorry. You're right. That was unprofessional of me. I'll continue treating you as I normally do… but if you ever need to tell me something you don't have to hold back."

"They called me the Inquisitor… but I was just the executioner of the Aincrad Liberation Force's HunterKillers squad of ten… I thought of the player killers as nothing more than animals who'd lost their minds and put them down like rabid dogs. On the 74th floor they tried to kill me… my own squad turned against me. And I didn't hesitate to defend myself. Three more died before the game ended and I was spared the death I deserved… just so you understand the circumstances… haha… I'd stand at the edge of the floor for hours, but lacked the resolve to end it all… see you."

Before I walked out the door, I finished the conversation with: "I won't blame you if you quit… my parents killed themselves when they heard what I'd done after all."

With that I walked home. Only to find the two girls at the entrance to the school, waiting or something.

"What's wrong?" I asked them.

"Well… it's getting dark outside. And we thought we'd make you take responsibility and escort us home."

"Escort, then?" I asked and shoved my hands in my pockets. Not that Reina needed an escort.

"Let's go then." I said with a sigh as I slipped my shoes on then closed my locker. We started on the walk home.

It was uneventful and awkward. "Hey…" Kaede spoke up.

"Something on your mind?" I asked.

"Yeah… are you… by any chance an SAO survivor?"

"Why?"

"Your voice sounds familiar."

"Hmm… so you're saying that you are?"

"I… yes actually. I am… are you?"

"Yep."

Reina stayed quiet, as she listened.

"My name was VenaTrix." Kaede stated.

"Tasteless." I almost spit. The name was kind of familiar though.

"Nevermind that… what's yours?"

"Not telling."

"I want to know too…" Reina said.

"You'll regret knowing."

"I want to know… I promise I won't freak out, you can't be anyone bad if they let you go to school."

"Inquisitor."

Kaede stopped.

I turned to look at her with an exasperated sigh. I knew what was coming next. Maybe she saw me executing one of the worst playerkillers begging for their life in the world just to appeal to the humanity of those around me.

"Thank you… for your service… and saving my life."

Her facial expression was conflicted and she was forcing a smile.

"You don't have to force yourself… in fact I'd prefer being shunned and hated so I don't have to deal with the discomfort of people trying to comfort or reassure me."

"Ah… sorry but you did save me so…"

I regretted saying anything, but warm at the same time. I don't know how there was two of us at the same school.

"But Venatrix… haha… _huntress_."

She blushed.

We kept walking, Kaede was whispering in Reina's ear. I just hoped she wasn't saying anything that would make her leave the club.

Reina nodded slowly, her mouth became pursed, tight-lipped as she heard more and more.

"So he was like a soldier doing his duty… but he was only twelve when it ended how…" Her eyes watered as she finally cracked.

There was nothing dutiful about what I'd done. I killed people who killed people and I wanted to do it, because I did the same thing at the start of the game. By accident. I killed my little brother in a duel to the death before Kayaba's announcement. I was driven by grief. I hated myself, I just spent the days killing monsters. I got good at it. Then we started climbing floors and that's when the playerkillers came along. How could people be so sick? I was driven by rage of others so nonchalantly taking lives and blaming Kayaba and the NerveGear for making it a death game rather than taking responsibility for their psychosis!? Of course I'd kill them! Who wouldn't!? ANIMALS!

Reina failed to make eye contact as we waited on the train. She didn't seem to want to talk right now. Taking in the fact that I was little more than a murderous savage.

I let out a deep sigh as we finally got to the station and boarded the train. The first stop was Reina's and Kaede got off at the same station as me. I didn't know this, because the track club usually finished earlier than me. So we walked together the rest of the way.

"Listen." Kaede stated, matter-of-factly.

"You did what was necessary? All is forgiven?"

"No. I'll never forgive you. But I trust you. Which is more than I can say for most people. So… let me stay in the club and play Warfall."

"It's not that good is it?"

"Are you fucking kidding?"

I felt a bit of warmth as she asked that.

"I'd die for that game." She said, with a wide grin.

"Then you wouldn't be able to play it."

"I'd lick the bottom of your feet clean for that game…"

I shuddered with disgust, at that brazen statement. "You sure that's not just a reward for you…?"

"...Maybe… you are Overlord after all… not many people will be able to say they've licked your feet… should I do it for bragging rights?"

"Stop it."

"Take your shoes off and sit down over there… shishou."

"Stop it."

"Don't forsake me shishou, I can prove my loyalty to you through a tongue-to-foot pact."

"You just have a foot fetish don't you? Is that why you became manager of the track club?"

"...!" Crimson ears, and pursed lips.

"This is my stop." I said and looked at her. My apartment was on the third floor of a four story building with five doors across the balcony.

Her eyes were focused on the ground and her hair was covering her face. But her ears were still red. Which told me everything I needed to know. I hit a sore spot, I guessed _too _correctly.

"No." She said meekly and followed me into the building and then up the stairs to the third floor.

"Okay. I believe you." I rolled my eyes as I said that.

She walked up to the apartment building and made her way up to the third floor of the building and stopped at the door right next to mine.

She was 314 and I was on the corner, at 315.

"So you live right next to me, hm?"

"I can't believe this…" She whispered and turned the doorknob to her apartment before disappearing inside. Her long black ponytail fluttering behind her. Then the door closed with a click.

She couldn't believe that I figured her fetish out that quickly, or that she was one door down from me?

That apartment was vacant up until yesterday. Which meant that her parents decided to move in while I was at school. They must not have had a lot if they were just moving in, in a day. Maybe I was wrong. Not that I knew, because I'd never moved before.

This had to be somebody pulling strings behind the scenes. This is way too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence. This is conspiracy level coincidence. I turned the doorknob after I unlocked the door and went inside. Pitch black inside, unlike Kaede's apartment. Decided to shower and flicked a couple lights on when I got some clothes from the bedroom and stepped into the bathroom.

I turned the hot water up to max and walked into the water in a futile attempt to cleanse my soul. It naturally didn't work and no matter how hot it got, it didn't wash the blood from my hands. I knew this was a hallucination. A trick of the light. A trick of the mind. Weakness. It wasn't real, it was just my mind trying so hard to convince me that this water was all blood. The shampoo in my hair going down the drain, was all red swirls and sticking to my hands was the red blood of the people I've killed. Then the showerhead started pouring blood.

I thought I was past this. SAO didn't even have blood. I shut the water off and stepped out, drying myself off and pulling on a pair of shorts, and then wrapping myself in my favorite bathrobe. After that I went over to my PC set up in the living room and opened up the forums and the Admin Portal, which was a control panel for tracking stats of Warfall in real time.

The forums were bustling with activity. There was speculation about the new update. Literally just a single skin. Not much to speculate about. These guys were probably the ones who didn't get into the game yet. Only an hour or so had passed since I'd left the school after restarting the server. Comments were made about how it was a 220 yen weapon skin. Although it wasn't that great, people seemed to enjoy having it and having a hand in the development of their favorite game and the promise of upgrading the server if it sells well. The in-game store catalogue was available on the site as well. It showed the cosmetics available for purchase. There was just the one for now. Cosmetics weren't necessary, and I wanted to keep them toned down. No pizza skins. No emojis. I want this Deagle skin to be the exception.

_When do you think the server will be upgraded? _

Was the most popular topic with over 90 pages in the last hour. I switched tabs and opened the admin portal to check statistics. 100,000 players online. The number changed often, but it was pretty much constantly maxed out.

I don't know what I was hoping for but I navigated to the store page and checked the sales.

"Jesus Christ."

You know about those geniuses that bless the world with their presence over the course of human history who changed the course of the world and alter the industry forever? That's not me. But damn.

_Golden Deagle_

_Price: ¥220_

_Total Purchases: 664,786_

Am I really that dense? The sales math basically says that how much I made is: 146.25 million yen. With that I could upgrade the server and keep it running for years to come. I could hire 3D and 2D artists to further develop the game and even have experts in the field of animation speed up development. Unfortunately, with the cost of employees, increases the cost of maintenance. So I'd probably have to keep flying the ship solo or find a small team of experts to make the ideal game… my ideal game.

Guess I'll upgrade the server right now actually.

So I opened the admin portal and got to work on upgrading the server immediately. It wasn't too much work. Just filling an online form and having a simple AI program approve it, take the payment and then allocate more server assets to me. I decided to increase the server limit ten fold. Up to a million players at a time. I'd be able to keep it running for a few years with what I just made off the deagle skin. I actually felt regret. Now I'd have a bunch of kids running around my game with their shiny new golden deagles. It's a shame I made the Deagle such a good weapon, that was so highly customizable it could be used at any point in the progression of the game.

I'd probably take it off the store in the next week after a new message, and make it an end-game quest item that can be acquired after defeating a boss mob. Taking off the glow, and making it inferior to the slight-glow that the current gold Deagle gave off. Which was probably going to be used for showing off more than anything.

I was getting distracted, so I looked back at the page and completed the order for the new server, all I'd had to do after that was click a button and the order was finalized. The site gave me an online receipt, which I print off and it said that the upgrades would be done within the hour. I navigated back to the forums and read through the topics.

The top topic had over 140 pages now the original poster was: _Futo_RiKaru_.

_**When do you think the server will be upgraded?**_

I opened it, casually hit the delete all comments button, and then added a resolved tag to it, before posting a reply and locking the topic.

_Tonight._

_Overlord._

Next came the balance updates for the monthly update in may. There were a few weapons that became too strong when they were modified to be chambered in different rounds. So I dropped the DPS by a few digits. They'd still kill specific enemies when their weakpoint was shot but if you didn't hit weakpoints then the weapon would take an additional shot extra to kill the enemy. It might not have sounded like that much of a difference but it was huge in retrospect. Hordes of enemies would potentially take an exponential amount more ammo to kill. Such as hordes of the Thralls. Which were reptilian, xenomorphic cave-dwelling monsters, which were capable of morphing into dozens of different variants based on what the monster hive needed at that point in time. The server wide AI was run by a stripped-down and less intrusive version of the Cardinal in SAO which I called the Gamemaster. It was in charge of the AI for the entire game and was actively building scripts, pathing and logic modules across the entire world to make it autonomous so it could free up processes to take a more active role in _Conflict Zones _as I referred to them. Where players were fighting against the corruption that tainted the entire world. There weren't any real factions in this game, unless they were player-made. But the starter faction that did exist was one of my own design.

_The Dominion_

It was a highly militaristic faction that thrived even in the long dead world. As of now, all players spawned in the dominion territory, not in the city. Reaching the city was a goal in its own right. However, there were several thousand settlements beyond the city that were abandoned, where players spawned in the vicinity of. It was here that the players could remain, getting their bearings and exploring the immediate area or claiming it as their base.

As it stands, a lot of these settlements went unused, but I figured a lot of them would immediately fill up once the population cap went up to a million. Maybe I'd need to include a second Game Master and give them sectors, but that would cost a lot to maintain as well...

_Bing bong._

…?!

That sound scared me. I'd forgotten what the doorbell sounded like, because nobody ever came to my apartment. I figured that it must've been Kaede. So I walked over to the door and opened it nonchalantly. "Yo."

Her face went red as soon as she saw what I was wearing. An untied bathrobe that showed my bare chest to the world. I mean, it's not like I had anything to brag about. I was emaciated after being stuck in SAO for two years and my physiotherapy and nutritionists kind of forced me into the habit of a consistently healthy diet… of cup noodles... and regular exercise.

She cleared her throat as her eyes sunk down to the floor, then she made eye contact. Did she just, check me out? No. Don't flatter yourself. She was probably just embarrassed.

"Why did you lock my topic?! It was blowing up… I mean. You answered it, but that's actually kind of upsetting!"

She looked exasperated and tears were forming in her eyes.

"Is that what you rang my doorbell for? I was actually busy working on weapon balance for PvE and PvP."

"Well… that's not even what I'm here for… my parents told me to bring you this, think of it as my thanks for letting me join the club, and my parent's thanks for bringing me home safely." She pulled from behind her back a plastic dish filled with what I assumed to be curry, with a divider in the middle for a decent sized serving of rice. Too kind.

"Hmm… want to come in?"

Her face turned a deep crimson red, and she was already wearing her pajamas, her hair was also slightly damp and she'd removed her makeup, guess she just showered. She looked just as pretty honestly, but I felt like I wasn't supposed to see this. "I-idiot… what are you saying?" Her eyes shifted to the left of the door and it looked like she was making eye contact with somebody. Then she looked back at me.

"I… guess. I can help you heat it up while you work, if you don't mind… the intrusion."

I reasoned that the reason for her boldness was the fact that her own doting parents were urging her on with glee. Maybe they were the kind of parents that wanted grandkids while they were still young and to see their daughter grow up into a fine young woman… wait, what the hell am I thinking right now?

I let her in and closed the door behind her, before showing her to the kitchen where she could find anything she needed to use to reheat the food. She opened the food container and plopped it into the microwave for two minutes. While it was in there she left it and turned to me then walked over to see what I was doing.

Hmm. She's efficient. I approve. But I mean, what else was she going to do? Reheat it in a pot? No, there was only one real answer. The microwave.

She was close, her hair brushed against my neck, it was loose now and had a fragrance that resembled some kind of synthetic vanilla smell or lavender. I wasn't sure. It was floral vanilla.

"Hmm… It's actually kind of hard to work with somebody over my shoulder like this." I stated, making a very astute observation.

She took the hint with a smirk and backed off to go sit on the couch, "Scared I might bite?"

"Yes actually, you don't become the Inquisitor without being the most paranoid person in SAO." I said and turned to her with an exasperated sigh.

"That bad, huh?"

"Yep." I said as I continued to work. Maybe I'd change the Deagle too. So it does more damage when chambered in .50 AE. Wonder what it would feel like to get shot by this thing. Hmm...

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Food is done. I turned around and looked around for Kaede.

…?!

What the hell? She was laying there on the couch, breathing softly and completely at peace, sleeping. What time was it? I looked.

10PM.

Guess she got good sleep at night, if she could just fall asleep in another person's apartment without even considering the consequences of such boldness. Then I smirked.

"_But I trust you, _huh?" I quoted her as we'd walked from the station to the apartment building. "Guess I'd better eat and tell her parents to come get her."

Got up from my PC and went over to the microwave, pulled the dish out and enjoyed my meal, at the table. Not bad. Just a little spicy. I savored the meal and washed the dish when I was done. Then walked over to her apartment.

"Ara… aren't you a fine looking young man?" It was her, mom? She looked young, no older than thirty. Maybe she just aged really well.

"Ah… good evening, your daughter fell asleep in my apartment and I'm not really sure what to do about it."

"Ara… and such a fine gentleman too… it's fine, you have our blessing." She said with a soft voice.

"...?"

This woman looked a lot like her daughter and seemed to endorse promiscuous behavior with her child. I did not approve, but for future reference… at least I knew I had their blessing. I just hope I never have to talk to them again.

"Ah… sorry, you see… our daughter is… wary of men."

"Then she must not think very highly of me." I said with a smile.

"Scary… actually… it's the opposite."

"So… you're just gonna let her stay there… on my couch?"

"Yes… she should know better than to fall asleep and put herself in a vulnerable position like that… if you decide to assault her in her sleep, there's not really anybody to blame but herself - but you seem like a good boy, so I don't think that'll be a problem… ah but I'll bring a set of clothes over in a little while, thanks for bringing the dish back."

With that she patted my head twice, took the dish and closed the door on my face.

...What the hell?

I don't care about her not caring about her daughter's chastity… but the couch is the only bed I have!

With a sigh, I decided very carefully on the sleeping arrangements and decided I probably wouldn't be able to get anything done tonight, so I'd just go to bed now. Try to anyway.

* * *

_**Reina Yotsubaki**_

I stroked the red outline of a handprint on my cheek, the pain when my father slapped me across the face still stung and my mind was still numb from when he yelled at me for reasons I don't understand. He yelled so loud it made my ears ring, so loud I didn't even understand what he was saying. Then he grabbed me by the hair and threw me into my room, and locked the door. Leaving me within an empty room, besides a mirror and the cold wooden floor. My father had been drinking tonight, like every night after my mother committed suicide five years ago.

This was where I spent each night and slept. Before waking up at 5AM to shower and then go to school. Tomorrow was Saturday and I had work at 5:30AM, after my shift ends I'd probably head to the mall and look for Sakuragi-kun… maybe he'd be around there before closing time. I forgot to get his contact info. It would've made tonight much more fun… slipped my mind.

Speaking of tonight… it made me happy when I learned more about the boy I like, even if it was from another girl who shared the same feelings. I saw the way she looked at him when we were leaving. Like she'd found her one true love. Her eyes were as expressive as Sakuragi-kun's and her facial expressions betrayed what she was feeling just like Sakuragi-kun's.

"Haha… ehehehe…" I smiled, I felt it when my cheek started to sting as my smile widened. Even if he was a cold-blooded killer I'd give everything I had to those beautiful expressive eyes of Sakuragi-kun even if he ended up like my dad… slapping me across the face with completely empty eyes. As long as it provided him with some sense of emotion after he'd had his fill. Whenever my dad's empty, drunken eyes started to show life again, in the form of a deep, lonely despair he'd always throw me in here, so that he could be alone again and sink back into his empty-eyed drunken stupor. Then I'd go to school, he'd go to work and we'd come back home and repeat this process every night.

My dad lost everything when my mother committed suicide, and he took it out on himself, and on me.

I don't mind the beatings… if he gets life in him by beating it out of me… then that's fine! Because I have unlimited life, and happiness. "Aha...haha."

I let out a sigh as I stretched my arms and legs out as I laid on the floor. This hardness, this cold hardness was something I was used to, and before long I yawned and fell asleep.

* * *

**_A/N: Shorter chapter. Developments. Developments._**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Kaede Kirishima**_

So warm… mmn… and comfy. I opened my eyes to find myself enveloped by white cloth and beneath my cheek was the warmest, softest, comfiest pillow I'd ever had. I don't want to go to school today.

Then my eyes came into focus, and I realized what I was laying on. Skin. Human skin. And it was covered with drool.

Ah! Ah! No!

I pulled out of the shirt that I had buried my head under, and noted what kind of situation I was in. I knew I was responsible for his drool covered abs. Then I felt his arm wrapped around my back, and saw the other behind his head, acting as his pillow.

I'm scared… to move… so… embarrassing. At least today is Saturday.

My leg was between his and I was pretty much splayed out on top of him. Both of my arms were wrapped around his abdomen and he was so warm, and hot… and his scent put me at ease.

"I don't… mind… this." I admitted, with a soft sigh, before pressing my cheek back down onto his abdomen, savouring the moment while it lasted. My heart was beating so fast. But the fear subsided. I didn't feel violated… I just felt warm… then I shifted my leg and felt something hard between his legs.

Oh god… oh no. I need to move!

I went stiff. And looked at his face.

Almost as if on cue, his eyes snapped open, and he peeled me off him with the arm he had wrapped around my waist and then got up and walked down the hallway, opening the door and disappearing inside. I was pushed aside, and just plopped down onto the now empty couch. I was frozen in place, embarrassed but also almost disappointed at his reaction to our sensual situation. I didn't even care how we ended up like that. But at least I was fully clothed in my PJs. And… dry. Now I'm kind of… feeling gross and perverted for liking being in this situation with a boy I didn't even really like until I heard he was my idol.

When he came out of the room he had a look of disgust on his face and was wearing a new set of clothes. He walked over to me and nodded at the computer desk. There was a pile of clothes on it. Mine. The panties were at the top of the pile. I sighed with a hot face, my mom probably stacked them like that… so I just rolled off the couch and to my feet.

"Bathroom is the door at the end of the hallway. You can change in there."

He was stoic, his face wasn't even red. That was actually kind of hot. But it made me feel just a little bit lonely, being the only one here blushing like crazy.

I went into the bathroom, peed and changed into the change of clothes. My mom was an idiot. I can't believe she actually allowed me to spend the night here, and even gave me a change of clothes for the morning. It was a cute and stylish outfit. Something I'd pick out for a day out shopping.

"Not a bad choice, mom... still an idiot though." I pulled my night clothes off and absentmindedly tossed my clothes into the dirty hamper then stopped.

Ah...haha…! That's a little too far, how familiar can I get? I dug my clothes out and then stopped suddenly. Oh my god… are these fresh? I reached into the laundry and pulled out one of his dirty socks. They were dry now, but the thick odour flooded into my nose. Ahhh… this is heaven… this is a glorious bountiful harvest… the embarrassment of sleeping on his hot chest and smelling his slight boy-scent was worth it… to get these thick, sour, musky socks.

I buried my nose into the white sock stained with sweat and took in his blindingly putrid and delicious boy smell. Just one more minute.

_Sniiiiiff… hah… hah… sniiiiiiff…_

* * *

_**Gabriel Sakuragi**_

...It was unsettling. She was taking quite some time in the bathroom.

I'd woken up to the feeling of softness enrapturing my body, her modest breasts against my chest. Her hot body warmth and then her leg in between my legs. She was a girl. She said she didn't mind the situation and my morning wood was discovered. I thought it best to act like nothing happened, so that's what I did.

But why is she taking so long? I had a bad feeling so I started to walk to the end of the hallway, and raised my hand to knock on the door, prepping a line before I did.

Just as my knuckles were about to make contact, she opened the door and her flushed face and dazed eyes were the first things I noticed, she just looked up at me with a smile.

"Did you eat anything?"

She asked, she seemed… satisfied. In her hands were her dirty clothes she changed out of.

"Not yet, I was thinking about heading out to get breakfast somewhere, because I don't really have anything in the fridge right now." I stated as I brushed past her and stepped into the bathroom, walking to the basket in the bathroom, but my trip was almost cut short as I nearly died.

My foot slipped on the wet surface of the floor, it was wet. Almost sticky, more slimy than anything. Wait… the sock at the top of the basket caught my attention. Why does this sock look so…

It was wet. Foot fetish. Foot smell fetish? Wet floor… drool, I guess.

I'm not going to say anything. But I know why she took so long now.

I took the basket to the laundry without a word and then threw them in the washing machine and poured a bit of extra detergent in and then closed the lid and set the soil level to max, before turning and going back to the main living area attached to the open-concept kitchen where Kaede stood. I finally had the chance to look at her outfit, a skirt and a white sweater with a black shirt underneath. She was also wearing some black socks pulled up to the base of her shins. Her usual ponytail was absent, replaced by twin tails.

"Alright…" she said and closed the fridge with exasperation. "Let's go out."

Her face went red. "And by that I mean go outside…" Her face flushed redder.

"We need to exchange contact numbers. For club activities." I changed the subject, "I'd like to head to the mall and see if we can't find Reina today… let's go eat."

Her expression seemed to get serious as she nodded, deciding to forget about what happened this morning. We exchanged contact info right after that. Naturally, I didn't say or even feel anything, even after all that had happened. Well. Didn't feel anything besides her comforting warmth I guess.

I sighed and got ready, then we went out shopping. With the help of Mikado, I had my own bank account which also functioned as my business account. Which basically meant that all my ¥en from the Deagle skin sales was on this account. It wasn't like I was going to import a lambo with it, but I wanted to eat something besides the cup noodles I'd survived off for the last year or two.

So we went to the station, and conveniently got there when the train did, got on and stood in awkward silence for the few minute ride. She scooted in closer to me.

"I have something to tell you." I stated as she came closer and we continued to move on the train. Waiting for our stop.

"Hmm?"

"I'll buy you anything you want, as an apology for this morning." I finished, and recalled how I went to sleep last night. I'd sat down at the edge of the couch, crossed my arms and rested my head on the pillow and covered myself with a small section of the single blanket I'd pulled out of the closet. She was laying the other way, but somehow we ended up in an embrace like that. She had flipped over and onto my chest in the middle of the night.

As I recounted the events, her face was completely red, "Yeah… I move around a lot in my sleep if I'm not comfortable."

"Guess you made yourself comfortable… because you didn't move at all when you started drooling on my chest."

"Urk!... why didn't you wake me up."

"Too tired." I yawned, she also yawned.

"Damn it…" She chewed on the nail of her thumb, lost in thought. "Is it bad that I enjoyed that experience?"

"Well… I'm a killer, so…"

She sighed, deeply. "Kill me then."

I shook my head, "Pretty sure dead bodies don't carry any warmth."

A woman not a part of our conversation shifted away from us, discomfort evident on her face.

"So what you want to eat today?" She asked.

"There should be omurice at a place, somewhere near the main shopping district… I walked past it one day but didn't go inside because I had no money. I'm pretty sure it's a maid cafe. You ok with that?"

"Mm, sure." She said with a slight nod and we stood there in silence. Her stomach growled.

I pretended not to hear. Which only seemed to make her more embarrassed by it. Eventually we came to our stop and disembarked the train, before walking down the sidewalk past a few busy streets. Then we got there.

"Yeah… it's a maid cafe…" I sighed.

"Ohaaayo~ goshujin-sa— geh!"

"Geh?" I looked into the eyes of the maid. I'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Baki-chan?"

Her face turned bright red, she was wearing her hair slicked back, a bandage across the bridge of her nose and a frilly red maid ensemble that clashed with her personality and the image I had of her at school. But still, it wasn't a bad look for her.

It seemed the other maids also had similar styles, each their own color of the spectrum. It seemed Reina's color was red. Like her scarlet hair.

"Table for two." I stated and she forced a smile. This was the cliche wasn't it? The one where your classmate is actually working at a maid cafe to make ends meet, but why a maid cafe? Wasn't she too young to be working here too? Secret I guess.

"Lemonade and Omurice."

"Same." Reina said with a deep sigh. She didn't seem to realize the red-haired girl was Reina. Her mannerisms were completely different after all.

Kaede was resting her chin on the table and then wrapped her arms around her head. Her breathing became softer, indicating that she fell asleep.

"Hai yo!" She wrote down the order and walked to the counter with a spring in her step that I'd otherwise not see and pinned the order up, "Two omurice with lemonade."

God it hurts my heart to see her in this sorry state, I'm sorry Baki-chan. I didn't have an appetite anymore, but I'd eat.

A few minutes later Kaede was snoring, and Reina brought the two plates and glasses of lemonade over. Then grabbed a bottle of ketchup and drew a cute face in under ten seconds on both of the omurice.

"Thanks." I said, as Reina nodded then walked away.

I poked Kaede's cheek and she immediately shot up to a sitting position, "Kya!"

_Cute._

"Itadakimasu." I put my hands together and started eating. It wasn't bad, just omurice. Not like it could've been gourmet level food that tasted like a slice of heaven itself.

Soon we both finished eating and I approached the maid Reina who was in charge of us paying. I paid. Then she wrote on the back of the receipt before she handed it to me. "I forgot to give you my contact info yesterday… my number is on the back."

"Ah, great. Thanks. I'll send you a text later, when do you get off?"

"Around 2:30PM."

"Hmm? What time do you start?"

"5:30AM, why?"

"That's early. Do you get a ride?"

"Yeah. The boss picks me up from my place. I handle all the set up in the morning. Putting the chairs out, bringing ingredients out from the back and stuff like that."

"I see. Well it's still only 10AM so we'll probably be at the mall when you get off."

"Ok!" She exclaimed happily.

I went to get Kaede who had started to doze off again.

"Not a morning person…"

"Not that… I just feel too comfortable when I'm with you and it lulls me into sleep."

"That's equally as bad, I'm not even sure if I should be worried, offended, or flattered."

Kaede yawned, "Why not all three?"

She asked, stretching and making a cute noise when she finished.

I sighed, and we continued to our primary destination. There should be a furniture store. Somewhere here. Someplace I can buy beds for each of the guest rooms and my room.

Back when my parents first died. I emptied our four bedroom apartment. Getting rid of everything that even remotely reminded me of them. The only thing I had was a box of mementos… an album and a few pictures. Then the apartment was empty mostly empty besides the necessities. After I received my compensation for almost dying and killing people, I bought a couch, desk, PC, and a dining set of a small table and matching chairs.

"You know…" Kaede began as we walked past a few couples doing their shopping. "We look like a couple… ahahaha just kidding."

"We do don't we? Should I walk farther back about ten paces and stare at the back of your head so we seem less wholesome?"

"What? Like a stalker?

"Yes."

"Hahaha! What the hell!" She was frowning now and she hit me on the shoulder with her hand balled into a fist.

"That was a joke."

"Ah… yeah… I know…" She murmured and we walked in silence again. I think I might have hurt her feelings by brushing her off so casually. Exactly what I was aiming for honestly.

"Did I ever ask you why you live alone?"

"Because my parents killed themselves after they learned what I became in SAO." I answered the question without any semblance of hesitation.

"...O-oh…" She lowered her head and didn't know what to say. "Are you trying to push me away and keep your distance? You can say if you are…"

"No… why?"

"Then you're just like this… because of what happened?"

"Like what?"

"An immovable object."

I laughed. She looked bewildered. "No. I just think there are better options out there than somebody like me."

"Well I don't care… boss."

"Boss?"

"That's our relationship isn't it? I'm your employee, helping with testing and… stuff."

"I suppose it is." I answered nonchalantly.

She beamed a smile as I finished that sentence.

We entered the mall now and spent a good part of the day browsing. Until we came to the furniture store. And I casually ordered three beds. One for each room in my apartment. In the event that I had unforeseen guests. I didn't want a repeat of last night. I arranged a time today, and they said the beds would be delivered at around 5PM at my doorstep. So I'd have to be there around that time.

With that out of the way we decided to have lunch. We stopped at a ramen place. I tried to eat the noodles while remaining refined as possible, and watched as Kaede just slurped them up with passion. With a sigh, I finished drinking the liquid and paid for both of our meals, Kaede had seconds though, so her share costed me twice as much, not that it mattered.

"Ahh… sorry. But ramen is my favorite." She said, putting her hands together and bowing her head apologetically.

"It's fine."

"By the way… you just ordered like four beds right… how much money do you even have?

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah. Last night I checked the sales of that Deagle skin and apparently it made 125 million yen within an hour. I didn't check it after that though."

"Wha-wha… 125 million yen?!" She exclaimed, drawing attention to us.

"The server has a million slots now… and…"

She dropped to her hands and knees, prostrating herself. "Please! Marry me!" She shouted as loudly as she could.

She had no shame! I crouched down, grabbed her by both arms and helped her to her feet, then looked her in the eyes.

"I decline."

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Try again in four years."

She beamed a smile, and nodded. "Mm! Ok!"

I let her go, and with that situation defused. We continued our shopping trip. This time we went into a girls' clothing store and she was looking around without any sense of embarrassment. She pulled together a set of clothes and then smiled at me. "You said you'd buy me something as an apology right? Is this ok?"

"Yeah." I answered with a slight nod. "This is what you want though?"

I looked at the set of clothes. They were cheap. She was considerately taking advantage of what I offered. Perhaps it was a habit of hers to be frugal.

"Yeah." She nodded.

With that she took the clothes up to the register and the clerk smiled affectionately at me. "Wow… I envy you... what a nice and patient boyfriend you have… and he's even paying for you… what a spoiled girl." She teased Kaede with a smile.

Kaede's face turned a deep red, and she could only nod meekly. I personally thought that this cashier was overstepping her boundaries, so I decided to ignore anything else she said and focused my attention elsewhere. Namely, on Reina who was bent over, wheezing at the front entrance of the shop like she'd just run a marathon. I walked over to her, right after I paid.

"There you are!" She was out of breath, still panting like a dog who'd just run five years straight. "I was looking everywhere for you two!" It was Reina, she looked relieved, but… well… obviously exhausted.

"Yo… Reina! Sorry, I forgot to text you, I didn't even realize the time." I shrugged as I walked over to her. Kaede shrank behind me, timid after what just happened. With the cashier.

"Right. Well we're making one last stop before we head back home."

I said and we walked the destination I had in mind. It was a shop: VR Gear Unlimited. They sold electronics. Obsolete hardcopies of two generations ago games and stuff like that. I didn't want anything on the shelves. What I wanted was behind a locked sheet of glass behind the register. "I'll buy two AmuSpheres, please."

He scanned the barcode twice and I looked at the cost with a slight sigh.

¥150,000.

I whipped out my debit card and punched in my pin.

_Approved._

"Here. One for you. One for you."

"Tch." The cashier clicked his tongue.

I ignored him as we walked out of the shop and began the trip home.

—-

The trip was uneventful and quiet, Reina and Kaede not even sure what to say at this point. We came to my apartment, and I opened the lock on my door with a turn of the key and was met with a resounding and undeniably satisfying click.

We stepped inside and I asked them for their new AmuSpheres. I configured them to take priority slots, handed them back and then set to work on Warfall: Age of Extinction. I'd probably start playing after I got the beds in my apartment.

"Link start!" Reina was first.

"Link start." Kaede went second.

I turned on the TV, which was one of the few things I didn't get rid of when my parents passed. Then I switched the display to show Reina's POV. I watched her from the corner of my eye and noticed her receive a friend request notification and then she started walking towards Kaede's location which was 57km away.

I guess I can help with that. I opened the game on PC, and transferred the display from the monitor to my own Amusphere. I wasn't diving, but I was navigating the 3D space with my Admin account on mouse and keyboard. I was so used to playing the game like this I didn't even remember what the atmosphere felt or smelled like in my own game.

"System Call, Priority User List."

A list of the prioritized users appeared. There was three.

_Overlord_

_Baki_

_Inquisitor_

Hoh? She stole my name? Kaede was Inquisitor, I was Overlord and Baki was Reina.

"System call, Teleport Overlord to Baki."

Disorientingly, my camera immediately changed position and began rendering the world around Baki as she ran towards Inquisitor.

"System call, Camera follow Baki."

"System call, teleport Baki to Inquisitor within 15 meter radius."

"Wow!" Baki shouted as she suddenly switched positions in the world and violently tripped over a rock outcropping and fell over, flat on her face.

Oopsie.

"With that… I get back to work." I closed the game and got back to work. There was a new kind of monster hive I wanted to add within the next few days. Before the end of April. The first month of school.

I also wanted to make a final few adjustments to the dropship AI scripts. In the current version: if it attempted to land, it didn't care about the terrain and would often just slam into the ground, veer off the side of a cliff or even flip over and disable itself from landing and so I had to make it aware of its own shape, functionality and the terrain. The new iteration of dropship AI seemed to be functioning perfectly as far as I was aware. The Game Master recognized these assets now and was using them to deadly effect. They'd often be requested as support by players who entered an _Alliance _relationship status with _The Dominion_. However, because the AI still didn't know how to land perfectly, I'd disabled the landing option so the troops deployed via jumping. I'd been forced to make them temporarily invulnerable as they did this… but there was previously an exploit that allowed them to remain invulnerable permanently. Gamebreaking. Had to make a patch to fix that as quick as possible.

Now that the AI could land and deploy troops as intended, I could restrict the game master to have more immersive patrols that spawned in a believable way, rather than phasing into existence on the roads, and pathways... then walking around Dominion territory.

The dropships could deploy squads of Dominion Soldiers that serve that purpose and deploy reinforcements when needed. Alerting players to civilization and NPCs that they could interact with.

Yes, I made each Dominion Soldier an entity that could be interacted with as a questgiver, or even a recruitable follower. Depending on your charisma skill level.

Naturally, the dominion didn't have unlimited respawns and could be destroyed just like any other city or village in the world. The spawns were based completely on the overall population of the Dominion. They made the lives of the players easy, but they were struggling.

With the Dropship AI finally finished I saved what I had done. Then went ahead and checked the forums, had to make sure there wasn't that much in the way of connectivity issues. The top topic was apparently an in character verbal war between two in game factions created by players: Chimera Corporation and the Guardians of Galdea. The topic of discussion as created by the original poster was:

_The Dominion is actually pretty OP. Aren't we supposed to kill them or something?_

_**LMAO!**_

_**Idiot.**_

_**Dumbass.**_

_**The Dominion exists to keep the starter area safe. Once you're outside their borders the world gets exponentially more dangerous. If the dominion is destroyed then the starter area will be just like any other area in the world.**_

_**The Guardians of Galdea will destroy the dominion, to welcome the evolution of humanity by expediting the spread of the Galdea.**_

_**Galdea?**_

_**The corruption… that's what they call it. They're like a cult.**_

_**UNACCEPTABLE. THE CHIMERA COMPANY WILL BURN EVERY LAST TRACE OF THE INFECTION FROM**_

_**THIS PLANET AND THE DOMINION SEEKS TO AID US WITH THAT ENDEAVOUR. WE WILL NOT ALLOW THE GUARDIANS OF 'CORRUPTION' TO DESTROY THE LAST BASTION OF HUMANITY ON AN UNPROVEN, SUPERSTITIOUS MONSTER-WORSHIPPING WHIM.**_

…I contemplated joining in for a moment. Overlord would be the last boss of The Dominion if a siege on the main city ever happened. I'd planned for that already, so I had nothing to worry about. I didn't want to alienate anybody though. So I'd abstain from interference.

I clicked out of the topic, besides the first few comments calling the original poster an idiot, there wasn't any kind of bm, besides the in character bm which I couldn't really say anything about. It seemed there wasn't that many complaints about the server capacity now.

I went to the admin portal and checked the server info. It was at capacity, fluctuating faster than before but always stayed close to a million. "Wow… that's surprising."

I decided I'd check the total sales of the Deagle skin finally.

_Gold Deagle_

_Price: ¥220_

_Purchases: 3,309,249_

_Total Sales: ¥728,034,780_

Please stop. I buried my face into my hands as I started to formulate a long term strategy. Eventually my game was going to lose popularity. With a sigh I closed the store page and sank back into my chair, losing myself in thought.

_**Bang, bang, bang, tatatatata…**_

I looked over at the TV. Kaede and Reina were having a blast. They ran into another group of players that started shooting first.

There was a dead boss mob laying on the ground, the loot was contested at the moment and the owners of the loot were ambushed by opportunistic vulture-types of players. The type of mob Reina and Kaede killed was humanoid, a marauder. Humans who were contaminated by the Galdea. That's the official name for the corruption now. I'm not going to name the corruption: Galdea in game, but that'll probably be what it's called in the coming years.

The vultures number three and were taking damage. Kaede was pretty good at the game, Reina was kind of hesitant in her movements. The awkward motions of somebody who wasn't used to VR games yet.

Reina took cover, and fired with her golden glowing Deagle. Blasting one in the head. The skull of the dead man exploded into pixelated shards. She has a damn good aim though! I leaned forward and watched the battle from the edge of my seat.

Kaede fired her Assault Rifle as she pushed up to the vantage point they had ambushed from. A rocky hill, at the top of the small valley a Dominion Dropship had crashed in.

Kaede's weapon was a heavily customized M4 With an elongated barrel and a 250 round double drum magazine. Why is it not jamming?

Short controlled bursts. She fired as soon as she saw the tips of their helmets poke over cover. Then she got to the top and put several rounds into each player cowering in the shadows. "Clear!" She called, then let go of her rifle, the weapon slid down to her side. The strap was positioned perfectly. Kaede was a seasoned veteran.

"O-ok…!" Reina came out of cover after watching Kaede start jogging back down the hill. Then they looted the marauder boss and the dropship.

They didn't find much on the dropship besides crafting mats (materials) and medical supplies but they did find some credits on the body of the marauder boss. A few hundred, plus a worn down M1A1 Thompson. It was a weapon of blue rarity. Nice Tommy.

"You can have this… it's kind of hard to control but it's better for swarms than that." Kaede handed the Thompson to Reina and pointed to the Deagle in her hand.

"Swarms?"

"Lots of enemies."

"I know that, but what mobs?"

"Thralls."

Ah yes, the reptilian thralls of the Xenomorphic Sauryx Hives. The most common enemy in Dominion Territory besides the Marauders.

I looked away from the TV and let them continue their adventures without me. Damn it. I went back to the forums. The top topic was something else now.

I spent some time reading through these pages with crossed arms.

_Bing Bong_

...

I got up from my chair and opened the door.

"Order of four beds?" It was a man in an unlabelled outfit. Movers.

I nodded, "Yes."

"Sign." He said, holding out a pen and clipboard. The beds were all brought up to the third floor already and they were being held by the movers.

"Right." I nodded and signed the papers before I gestured for them to come inside. Paying no heed to the two girls on the couch. Both of them laying with their heads at the opposite arms.

They kicked their shoes off at the door and started carrying the beds inside. Very nice. I showed them to the bedrooms where they helped each other carry the beds into each room. They weren't futons, no. Actual, legitimate and extremely hard to handle beds. Each with a frame, box and mattress. They were all queen size… well… except mine. Which was king-sized.

I thanked them for their service profusely and showed them the door. Then I got to work assembling the beds. My bed was the heaviest and it took me another hour before I was finally ready to play my own game that I made for myself.

"Haaaah…" I sighed as I got up and turned around, seeing Kaede in the doorway. She looked perplexed.

"So I logged off about half-an-hour ago and told my mom how much you made… off that one item." She rubbed her arm with an awkward smile.

"I bet you regret it."

"Kind of… but not really… she told me that she was disowning me until I married you." She shrugged.

"Wow… actually nevermind. I spoke to her when you fell asleep last night and that doesn't surprise me… I bet you were expecting that answer from her. But here's what you're not expecting… _sleep outside, you sock defiling nymph_."

Her eyes widened, she covered her mouth with both hands and fell to her knees. "Oh my god… how did…"

"I'm kidding, you can have one of the beds in the other rooms." I stated and stepped around her.

"Ohhhh…. this is so… embarrassing… I want to die." She moaned as she sank even further to the floor in shame. She'd probably cry about it. So I closed the door behind me.

"Yeah. I bet." I made my way to the kitchen and peaked into the fridge. There was literally nothing but empty shelves and not even a crumb of edible food in here at all. "Oh… I guess that's what happens when you make perverted girls cry." I murmured softly.

"Perverted girls?"

"Ah… Reina. I didn't notice you weren't diving anymore."

She sat up from the couch and pulled the AmuSphere off her head, she was drenched with sweat, glistening on her skin.

"I just stopped and that's the first thing I hear…?"

"I see. Well listen to this…" I told her about what I figured out about Kaede and her fetish.

"Haha… what the hell! Hahahaha! I mean… I guess we can just donate our dirty socks to her, right? No big deal… we'll just wash them anyway right?"

"Stop being so… mean." I said softly.

"Ah… sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"I don't want to encourage her to do that either, it feels wrong for me to do that… and she knows its wrong… she's over there in my room crying because I found out."

"Ouch." Reina was smiling.

"You've come a long way in the last two days… I'm surprised you can actually talk to me without hitting anything now." I remarked.

"...That's because I was afraid of being rejected by you… you know how I have a temper and don't know how to control it."

"Really?" I asked, almost rolling my eyes. "I did not know that."

She glowered at me.

"Sorry… but that much was obvious."

"Hmph…" She turned her head away and her stomach growled.

"I have no food."

"Ah… maybe we can hit a convenience store?"

"Yeah, it's only… 6:13."

"Actually… I have to head home." Reina looked panicked suddenly. Like she didn't realize she'd spent so much time playing.

"Hmm… ok. I'll take you home."

"N-no… that's ok."

"I insist."

"I insist that you don't insist! I don't _need _you to take me home!" She raised her voice suddenly, her brow was furrowed and she was clearly upset.

"Hmm… well I'm going anyway. I have to go now." I kept my guard up as I said those words.

Her arm was a blur as she raised it and yelled. "No!"

God she's fast and strong. But I still managed to block her fist with the palm of my hand. Years fighting in PvP in SAO hones your senses. Glad to see I still had it. Granted, her fist still hurt but the pain was at least tolerable. She probably would've knocked me out if that one connected.

_Another blur._

Contact, lower jaw, right side. My vision flashed white but it was her offhand. So I remained conscious and still gripped her balled fist as I nearly fell backwards.

"Nnnrghh!" I readjusted my footing and yanked her arm, throwing her off balance and bending her arm behind her back to restrain her, and then pushed her onto the couch.

_What the hell am I doing!? God damn it!?_

Overwhelming blinding rage had me seething after I was almost knocked off my feet by Reina. This freakishly strong girl who fought with emotion like me but didn't have the finesse of somebody who hunted down and killed people in a full-dive VRMMO.

"Kyaaahn~3!" She moaned, her voice muffled by the couch.

_Kyaahn?_

"Ah… s-sorry… I've never been assaulted like that in reality before." I let go of her arm and she rolled over. Her face was flushed red, and I rubbed my jaw where she punched me.

She got up from the couch and made her way to the door, her face expressionless. She slipped her shoes on and disappeared into the night without another word. I didn't have the guts to say anything to her after that so I meekly let her go, then looked at my phone. Pulled out the receipt signed with Reina's phone and sent her a text.

* * *

_**Reina Yotsubaki**_

_Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod…_

I punched him. I actually punched him! But he just easily recovered like a badass, and gently disabled me. It hurt a little, but he was so gentle despite having been punched in the face. It actually felt kinda nice.

I squirmed as I walked home, then my phone buzzed and I looked at it.

_Hey, this is Gabriel. Sorry about that. :(_

I decided to send a reply as quickly as possible. As I was walking.

_No, don't worry about it. I'm the one who should be sorry… I could tell I almost knocked you out… I really just don't want you to meet my dad. :3_

_Haha… sorry. Stay safe._

_Thanks. (^~^)_

With that, I continued on my way, navigating the alleyways and twists and turns of the town before eventually coming to the rundown complex that housed my apartment. I made my way up the concrete staircase and came to apartment 513. End of the hallway, then I pushed my key in the door… but it was open… I felt sick, like a feeling something was wrong… but I still pushed the door open. It was pitch black inside.

"...dad?" I called timidly.

Normally he'd leave all the lights on, he was afraid of the dark, though he'd never admit it. I got a sinking feeling that something wasn't right. I flicked the light on and made my way into the hallway with creaky floorboards. And finally turned into the dining room then saw the outline of my father sitting in the center of the chair, a bottle of empty alcohol laying on the floor. With a sigh I flicked the light on.

Then froze. This wasn't my dad. It was something else. Covered with blood, the face was completely carved off, the dead eyes staring right at me, blood dripping to the floor and the nauseating smell of blood filled my nose, the throat of this faceless monster was sliced open and thick cuts ran across what was left of his named chest. Forming the Kanji for the word Dad.

A sickening feeling hit my stomach and the back of my throat, and though I didn't even eat anything today, the bile and stomach acid rose into my mouth and poured out onto the pool of my own dad's blood. The strength left my body, and my hands and knees were drenched with crimson, the vomit kept pouring into the blood. I try to scream, but my voice wouldn't come out. Nothing came out!

_**HELP! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEHELPPLEASESOMBODYHELPME!**_

_**HELP!HELP!**_

All I could do was wretch and gag at the sight of what was once my father, I couldn't breath. I was choking on vomit sticking to the walls of my throat.

_Cough! Cough! Hack! Cough cough!_

_Nononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononononono!_

I beat my head against the floor, blood poured from my head and mixed with my the pool of vomit and blood.

_Speak! Move!_

"Help me…"

Blackness.

* * *

_**Gabriel Sakuragi**_

I followed her home (yeah creepy, I know). And stopped at her apartment complex. I was about to turn around and go home. But… but… those guys in black wearing masks. Went into the building.

"110, what's your emergency?"

"I'd like to report suspicious activity…" I reported the building, the address and the people I saw going in. "Send... SWAT."

"Help is on the way."

I hung up the phone and followed them in. No fear. No hesitation. I could hear their footsteps going up the stairs concrete stairs. I walked silently. Playerkillers typically had one thing on their mind, their targets. They'd ignore all other outside stimuli, hyper focused on killing their targets.

I moved faster, started to catch up. They reached the fifth and final floor. I walked up the stairs behind them. From what I saw, they had weapons, bats and blades. There was a possibility of a firearm, they likely weren't just common criminals.

Even so, I pressed on. There was one facing the stairs. Guarding the doorway. He saw me and when he did he gave chase.

"Hey!" He shouted, brandishing his knife.

I'd danced with death before, this man wasn't good with his knife. His movements were predictable, the runt of the litter? He lunged the blade towards my abdomen, I blocked it with one hand, used the other to slam my fist into his nose. He reeled with a sickening crack. His grip on his knife wasn't that tight, and became looser when I punched him. So I twist it with both hands and peel it out of his grasp, cutting my left hand in the process, but I switched it to my right and stabbed the knife into his shoulder, then ripped it free, and stabbed him again in the other shoulder.

His arms went limp, and he screamed.

Another one came running. "Taka-chan!" He yelled.

I took the initiative, and despite him being armed I aimed my knife for his abdomen, the hit to his stomach probably wouldn't be lethal, but would wind him and make him panic. Leaving him open to another attack. He was fast, and saw me coming. I twisted my body to try to avoid being hit in the wrong place. The blade dug into my shoulder. A flash of hot white pain blinded me for an instant. Not fatal, he also got stabbed. I pulled my knife out. Then gripped his knife, holding it in place with my free hand and slashed his ulnar nerve, then stabbed his bicep. The pain… it was making me angry.

His hand went limp and he slid down the wall and sat on the floor. In shock.

Whoever this is … getting robbed … still needs help.

I grit my teeth, the pain fueling my drive to continue, and I dragged my feet into the doorway. This is so unlike SAO. Damage like this wouldn't be so debilitating!

"Damn it! We got a stray… taking down our guys! Find her, and lets get the fuck out!" A man with a bat entered the doorway, then disappeared again. A different guy, bigger, came through the doorway. He reached for something behind his back. A machete.

"I've got this…" He had a thick accent, like he was a foreigner.

I could see his eyes curled as his mouth widened beneath his mask into a what was probably a disgusting sneer.

He was probably the knife guy of this team. I sighed deeply as blood dripped from my stab wound and cut hand. I was starting to feel light-headed. I just needed to disarm him. He came at me like a flash, strange for a guy so big. His machete was aimed directly at my stomach.

With a growl… I side stepped, took the machete in the left side and slid my knife between his ribs at the exact same time he struck.

I looked down, as he collapsed to the ground, his machete still buried into my side, I hope this didn't cut any of my intestines... blood poured out of this instantly dead man and oozed out of my wide, searingly painful machete cut. My vision constantly flashed white, but I took in deep breath to try and steady myself.

Every movement, filled with pain. Yet still, I moved further into the apartment, toward the door with laboured breaths.

"Is it done?" The man with bat asked. He was the only one here.

Before he could move, I lunged with as much strength as I could, two stabs. One in his throat, the other in his heart. I looked into the center of the room. Somebody in a chair. Dead. I looked back at the bat man. Dead on the floor.

Another man came forward, this one pointed a familiar weapon at me. Desert Eagle.

I watched his hand as he squeezed the trigger, then everything slowed down… oh… so now I get adrenaline.

Rage.

"**AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" **

**Laughter filled the room as the muzzle flashed repeatedly. Then it stopped, but the laughter continued, filled with such intense rage that it made my ears ring, or was it the inside of my head that was ringing? Or did the gun make it ring...**

...The laughter stopped as suddenly as it... replaced by the sound of the bloody knife clanging against the floor. The man with the gun had already collapsed to the floor, nobody was left to kill, and I looked down at myself. A few more holes in me than I would've liked… but… still alive… but… still dying.

I staggered to the doorway, and saw the SWAT team. One look at me and they lowered their guns. "Ahh… finally… you get here."

I blinked, so tired… encroaching nothingness. Was I really that badly injured though? No... just the blood loss.

"No! Saku—"

* * *

**_A/N: Huh. Who the hell shut the lights off? Why is it so damn dark, in here now?_**


End file.
